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SparkFun XBee Explorer Dongle

Description: This is the SparkFun XBee Explorer Dongle unit for the Digi XBee module line. With the XBee Explorer Dongle you can plug the unit directly into your USB port and have it act as a gateway between your computer and the XBee. No cables needed! This unit works with all XBee modules including the Series 1 and Series 2.5, standard and Pro version. The on-board voltage regulator is good up to 500mA.

The highlight of this board is an FT231X USB-to-Serial converter. That’s what translates data between your computer and the XBee. There’s also a reset button, and a voltage regulator to supply the XBee with plenty of power. In addition, there are four LEDs that’ll help if you ever need to debug your XBee: RX, TX, RSSI (signal-strength indicator), and power indicator.

This board also breaks out each of the XBee’s I/O pins to a pair of breadboard-compatible headers. So if you want to make use of the XBee’s extended functionality, you can solder some header pins into those, or even just solder some wire.

Not sure which XBee module or accessory is right for you? Check out our XBee Buying Guide!

Note: There is no XBee included with this Explorer Dongle. Check the Recommended Products section below for different options.

Customer Comments

Any chance of you all carrying the X-stick from Digi? That’s basically an X-bee and USB interface in a USB stick (with plastic cover around it, for people who don’t want raw circuit boards sticking out of their computer (I know, I know, who could possibly not want circuit boards sticking out?!).

The schematic is for the older version with a 28-pin FT232RL. This one has a 20-pin FT231X, and also seems to have a reset button and some new jumper traces. (And yet, the schematic does mention use of a surface-mount USB connector whereas the older version had a through-hole mounted connector.) Can we get an updated version?

Using the dongle with 900 Mhz Xbee. Must communicate with Xbee using XCTU before running my application, then application runs fine. Using latest (2.12.0.0) FTDI driver. Any ideas what I can do to eliminate the XCTU step?

Hi. I just bought the Xbee dongle for programming a number of Xbee, but now I want to connect one of them to my Arduino Yun. the Arduino Yun has a USB port, if I plug my xbee with the dongle to it, will I be able to pass data trough it?

No, the Arduino does not have a female A side to plug this into. When dealing with USB you need a host device. Usually the host is your computer, which acts as the brains and initiates the different commands. In this case you wouldn’t have a host. While it is possible to use something like the USB host shield you end up having to write your own drivers which means its usually more headache than its worth if you don’t know what you are doing. If you want to connect and XBee to an Arduino you will probably want to use the XBee Shield or the XBee Explorer Regulated

Just purchased qty=2 of these in anticipation of using it / them instead of the WRL-11812 (I use with a USB changer). Using a Macintosh Air (2011 version with Yosemite). When I plug into my Mac, it isn’t being seen. Can’t see it in any of the listed devices in XCTU. Looked at a devices listing (ls /dev/* using terminal) and can’t see it. Verified the XBEE radio can be seen with the 11812 first. Also, when plugging in, the (I assume power) red LED lights up and stays lit. Using the little ‘reset’ button, I can see a small led lights up momentarily. Anyone else using this with a Mac? What, if anything, did you do to get it to show up? Lastly, what is the device name you see once you’ve plugged it in? TIA for replies.

Follow-on: Got it working. Downloaded drivers (URL http://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/VCP.htm, 2.2.18 works fine on Yosemite) and installed. Can see the device. Just don’t see needing to install drivers much on a Mac.

Just a note that helped me out a lot. You should optimize the com port for XBees.
http://www.digi.com/support/kbase/kbaseresultdetl?id=3418

I bricked two of my XBees when I tried to update the firmware because the com ports were not optimized. Digi’s recovery instructions worked great.
http://www.digi.com/support/kbase/kbaseresultdetl?id=3402#XBee

Does this need to be done on both Xbees? The Digi site explains that the process optimises the driver to work with the Xbees Com port, so it applies to an Xbee on a PC. But what about an Xbee attached to an Arduino?
Michael

I doesn’t look like you are doing anything to the XBees, just the COM port which is computer/Explorer specific. So you will want to do this for every computer/Explorer combination you have. Otherwise that link just seems to talk about setting the firmware up for the modules.

Yup, I have had success using it with Raspbian. Doesn’t even require any driver installation. Just works! It shows up as something like /dev/ttyUSB0. I’ve only gone so far as to test it in a terminal with putty, it’d be really cool to see it interacting in a Python script.

Hi Jimb0,
I also plugged the XBee Explore Dongle in one of the USB ports of my Raspberry Pi. When ssh into the RPi and performing an sudo lsusb I see the device “Future Technology Devices International, Ltd FT232 USB-Serial (UART) IC”, so the RPi finds the dongle. Did you test (e.g. incoming data from another XBee) something else?
Thanks.

I used PuTTY on the Pi – it doesn’t give you the configuration tools, like XCTU, but it is a solid serial terminal application you can use to send and receive characters. You should be able to install it on your Pi with a sudo apt-get install putty command.

This board uses MIC5205. Datasheet says it is 150mA LDO. I don’t see how it can provide 500mA. Knowing that xBee Pro can use up to 800mA, I would say that this board is not designed to support Pro models. Btw, USB 3.0 port can provide up to 900 mA, so it should be possible to use it as a power source.

Can you confirm this indeed works with the XBee Wi-Fi? I have another brand (not yours) of explorer that it does NOT fit on because the WiFi component is too thick on the underside, which does not allow the pins to seat all the way. I’d like to make sure that chip in the middle of yours does not create the same problem. Thanks!

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